General News of Monday, 15 February 2021
Source: www.ghanaweb.live
2021-02-15Top controversies likely to feature at Ursula’s vetting today
Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, if given the nod, will serve her second term as Communications Minister
Communications Minister-designate, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful is one woman who doesn’t go down without a fight, at least not in most situations as witnessed by Ghanaians.
With her very outspoken and daring personality, she has made the news on many fronts, the most recent being her involvement in the parliamentary ‘drama’.
After serving in her
Read full articleportfolio for 4 years, she has again been nominated by the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to occupy the same position during his second term in government.
Ursula will today be taking her turn before Parliament’s Appointment’s Committee, together with Dan Botwe who has been nominated to head the Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development Ministry, from the previous Regional Reorganisation Ministry.
She has been projected as one of the nominees who will face stiff questioning from members of the committee, considering a number of issues that have emerged in the past, with her involvement.
Some of these are listed below:
Parliament brouhaha:
Ursula Owusu-Ekuful made her name after her tussle with some Members of Parliament during the inauguration of the 8th parliament in January.
Ursula ‘fought’ to have her seat at the Majority side in the chamber, which had been taken over by Minority members on the eve of the inauguration.
The Member of Parliament for Ablekuma West was shoved by one of the NDC MPs after she picked a seat on the side dominated by the NDC MPs.
The Ablekuma West MP retaliated by pushing Collins Dauda to the floor. She also was noted to have been involved in a confrontation with John Jinapor and there was some heckling also in this instance as tempers flared.
Mr. Kwabena Mintah Akandoh then had his fair share of time with the Ablekuma West MP when he decided to take over her seat after she had stepped out briefly.
Whilst she received massive blasting for this, many are of the view that her ‘shadows’ may haunt her at her vetting.
Closure of radio stations:
Two radio stations believed to be NDC affiliated were shut down by the National Communications Authority under her tenure as Communications Minister, in 2019.
Though many criticized the move and tagged it as a dent on media freedom, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful explained that these stations were cited for various infractions in an audit exercise
Despite the suggestions of political witch-hunting and calls for a revision of the decision, Radio XYZ and Radio Gold both remained closed, as the then Communications Minister maintained her stance on keeping them shut.
The two stations were among some 54 radio stations that had been shut down on the instructions of the National Communications Authority (NCA) on May 9, 2019, under circumstances that have been widely condemned for allegedly not renewing their licenses.
COVID-19 virtual concert controversy:
The then Communications Minister was again criticised for spearheading the organization of a concert to launch the COVID-19 Tracker App.
The App was launched in April 2020 to enable individuals access and provide basic information about symptoms of COVID-19.
The virtual launch was held on Easter Monday with some performances from some Musicians and came under heavy criticism.
Many critics argued that the virtual event was a waste of money and time. They said the energy put into the event could have been channelled into more profitable things that will help prevent the spread of the virus.
They actually suggested the Information Ministry could have announced this through one of its press briefings.
Kelni-GVG scandal:
In 2020, Ursula came under fire after the emergence of issues regarding the $89 million Kelni GVG deal.
The Ministry, in May 2018, demanded that telcos should allow Kelni GVG to access their systems to monitor call traffic as a way of ensuring that they declare accurate taxes.
This was after the NCA had signed a controversial $178 million contract with Kelni-GVG to calculate taxes and government revenue.
Many including Civil Society Organisations criticized the Communications minister and accused her of supervising the award of a fraudulent contract which will have dire consequences on the country.
Ursula Owusu was invited to Parliament several times to provide answers concerning the work of the company that was awarded a contract to independently monitor the revenue of telecommunication companies in the country. She failed to show up on some occasions but when she did, she argued that it was a step in the right direction and was not, under any circumstance going to be withdrawn.
She further indicated the government’s resolution to stand its grounds and go ahead with the contract despite the growing oppositions to it, saying “We will not waiver or relent in this.”
